Reward Yourself

I realized something today. Something that may seem pretty obvious to other people, but apparently not to me. Not sure why this never really occurred to me, but I guess you could say I had some sort of “revelation”. I realized just how important it is to reward yourself.

I guess I was always so used to other people rewarding me for things. Back in elementary school when you do well all school year, you get an award from the teacher. When you behave well after getting the dreaded booster shot from the doctors, you get that new toy you’ve wanted for weeks from your parents. When you work your hardest on that stupid university paper and get a great mark, your professor rewards you with the satisfaction of knowing it all payed off.

But today I realized that you can reward yourself, and it feels just as good. Maybe even better! You get to pick the reward. Doesn’t that sound awesome?!

Today, after a hard day at work, I went out to Starbucks with a friend, bought a delicious cheesecake brownie, and then bought two new books I’ve been wanting to read for a long time. It made me feel so happy, because I believed that I had truly earned those. I actually have a job now, so I feel like I could easily afford 30 bucks for two new books! Now, I’m not saying go spend all your money to “reward” yourself. But every now and then, it’s nice to just look out for yourself.

I also feel like this self-reward system is really going to help me out with my anxiety. Go one week without giving into anxiety – reward yourself with a day at the beach with some friends. Decide to go out to that party even though your stomach feels gross – reward yourself with the newest issue of the Walking Dead next time you go to Chapters. The rewards don’t always have to cost money. They don’t always have to big. All they have to do is make you feel good and proud.

Like I said, I know this idea is probably not new to anyone else…but until today it seemed almost foreign.

Rewarding yourself feels awesome. And even though I sometimes let myself down, I also need to remind myself that I can make myself feel awesome too.